Sore Hands

So, it turns out that apparently I cannot do 50 ab crunches using the climbing trainer. Nope, I do about 10, and my hands hurt so badly from the holds on the board that I just stop even though my abs are actually okay. So I've kind of taken to doing 10 here and there. We'll see. Still planning on those washboard abs. Someday...

Saturday was a day of actual rock climbing, which was fun, except I hadn't climbed in months, and apparently if you don't climb in months, you lose whatever tiny bit of strength you had in your arms. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. Good thing we had a hearty dinner that night...STEAK.

And broccoli.

Meat.

I looked over at one point during dinner to see this staring at me.

Hello. I'm here.

Since I didn't give her any, Bailey reluctantly ate her own kibble.

I bet steak tastes better than this.

And for some reason towards the end of dinner, she started playing with her bowl that she gets wet food in.

GUYS FEED ME ACTUAL FOOD

Nope. I had none of it.

She was in a food coma all the same after dinner despite not getting steak or wet food.

I'm so tired I don't even care you're taking pictures.

Yesterday Sam came over and we made this Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie as a late birthday treat for me (late because I fail at planning). Oh my was it good.

Yes it was good.

See those missing pieces? That was the damage we did (with Nick) after pulling it out of the oven.

:DDD

And now there is only one piece left...oops. But please make this. You won't regret it.

Bailey was her usual lazy Sunday self yesterday, just like she is every Sunday.

Go away please.

At one point I got her to play with one of her toys, but she opted to kind of keep watch of it instead of play with it.

Mine.

In other (really random) news, Nick has been playing this video game Oblivion a lot lately. Last night I found out I'm decent at this one skill in it.

Lock picking.

Right. So that's good. If all else fails in my life...I know what I can turn to.

Timing the click of a mouse, apparently.

Dessert Friday #14

A friend at work told me last week about how Magnolia Bakery was opening in Chicago, and I basically freaked out in excitement. So of course that's where we went for Dessert Friday today, just a few days after it opened.

Oh yes.

The shop itself was adorable, but there was no room to sit down there (everyone had the same excitement I did, apparently), so we ended up eating the cupcakes at the Macy's eating area nearby.

:DDD

I got the Pink Ribbon Cupcake (they donate $0.75 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for every one of these they sell, even though it was a little strange because the cupcake itself is $0.75 more expensive than just a regular cupcake, so...I guess we donated $0.75?) and Nick got a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting.

I take back what I said yesterday about buttercream frosting. Apparently I just don't have the skills. Yet.

OMG

It was so pretty. I wish I could frost like that.

It was also really, really delicious.

:DDD

And there was so much frosting.

After we gained ten pounds from the cupcakes, we met up with Nick's cousin and her boyfriend for dinner and didn't end up getting home until quite a bit later than usual. Bailey made sure to guilt trip us.

Where were YOU guys.

We also came home to this contraption Nick ordered awhile ago to work on rock climbing at home, complete with handholds.

We had to put it together ourselves, which was kind of confusing but ended up working out. Bailey of course oversaw our work.

You're doing it wrong.

Nick had to adjust the handholds a few times because...you know. We were too weak for how we'd initially set them up.

In any case, we've now got this thing hanging in the hallway door frame that's right next to our front entrance.

Extreme.

And I've decided to do 50 of these every day from now on (ha...).

Yup.

Give me a month and I'll have worked off that Magnolia cupcake. I'll have washboard abs.

Please. No you won't.

Sugar High

I've been a little obsessed with all things pumpkin lately, ever since Katherine and I made those pumpkin whoopie pies. There was a recipe in the Chicago RedEye newspaper yesterday for a DIY pumpkin spice latte, and I've been dying to try it out, except...I can't get up early enough in the morning to make it, and I don't want to have any caffeine at night.

One of these days.

I also discovered today that pumpkin spice costs half an arm (a forearm?) at the local grocery store, so that DIY pumpkin spice latte is just going to have to do without it. What's half a teaspoon anyway. Psh.

I've been eating pumpkin for breakfast, too. A couple days ago I discovered the deliciousness that is cottage cheese. Well, cottage cheese as a mixer base. Here's what I've been having for breakfast this week.

Good.

That would be:

• Cottage cheese (as much as you want)
• Canned pumpkin (as much as you want, a little less than however much cottage cheese there is)
• Honey (drizzled on top, as much as you want)

As you can see, I follow a strict recipe. Mix it, and you end up with this.

Even better.

You'll just have to take my word for it that it tastes better than it looks. It kind of tastes like pumpkin pie.

Sam also gave me a bowl of edamame hummus from Trader Joe's. Oh. My. God. I don't know how I've never tasted this before, but I've basically been inhaling this stuff since I got it last night and not eating real food for dinner.

AAAH!

That might be why I'm still sick...but there are plenty of nutrients in edamame, right? And pumpkin. And cottage cheese. Right.

Wrong.

Bailey's just bitter because she gets none of my food anymore.

Speaking of which. She's been on kind of a mischievous kick lately. Like the other day I got home to find that my bottle of face wash had been knocked over on the bathroom sink. I don't believe I left it like that.

Bailey.

I did nothing.

She's been a little devil the past couple mornings (yet another reason why I haven't gotten better) and is begging for attention starting at 5am. No matter how many times I pick her up and put her at the foot of the bed, she just prances right back up to my face and stands on it. Thanks, Bay.

You're welcome. Let's play.

I'm currently on a sugar high, because I made cupcakes for a friend's birthday at work tomorrow and had probably more than a decent amount of frosting. I got this tube of (hopefully) edible colored gel so I could write letters on the cupcakes (for a running joke we have), and then I got distracted and started drawing random things on the extra cupcakes I had.

Cupcakes!

Just so you can see that better:

<3 Bailey! Aww.

I've also decided that I do not like buttercream frosting. I don't care for the taste of it (it's just okay to me), and I hate the consistency of it (please ignore here the fact that I ate about a cup of it tonight - I tend to do that with any frosting). Maybe it's just my subpar skills, but I've made it twice now, and the first time it was strangely artificial tasting even though I didn't put anything weird in it, and this time it was just annoying to frost with because it kept leaking down the sides if I put too much on it. I didn't want to put in more powdered sugar because I'd already reached the limit that Martha said to add. I can't not listen to Martha!

So no more buttercream frosting.

Give me cream cheese frosting or give me nothing.

No. NO! I take that back. Give me cream cheese frosting first. If there isn't any of that, I'll consider buttercream. After I look at all the other options.

Don't give me a cupcake without frosting.

Sick

Every year when the weather starts to cool down, I get sick. It's guaranteed to happen (I've accepted this), and I'm usually fine for the rest of the winter once it's over.

This year was a bit worse than others, because I spent four hours yesterday at a career fair for work, recruiting about-to-be graduates. I'd already lost my voice, so standing and talking to people for that long in a noisy and crowded environment didn't really help.

Which is why I spent last night downing shots (okay, just one shot) of Nyquil.

Yup.

And that's an actual shot glass because I lost the little plastic cup the bottle came with. I always have to have water right afterwards, because I think it tastes just awful, and every time I use liquid Nyquil I wonder to myself why I didn't just buy the little pills instead.

Anyway. I'm not addicted to Nyquil. Just to get that out there.

I also took the day off work today, and spent the majority of my day sitting around the apartment, looking a lot like this.

Bleargh.

Bailey's got it down.

I found out from PAWsome Cats about this "Game for Cats" app for my iPad, and I downloaded it. It's basically like a laser pointer for your cat that doesn't involve you doing anything. So I've also spent a good part of my day watching Bailey do this.

I GOT IT

Quite entertaining.